Skyfall's still officially short of Moneypenny, but Sam Mendes's James Bond film will see the return of techie sidekick Q.

Ben Whishaw, whose casting was confirmed at the official launch of the 23rd Bond movie earlier this month, will play the MI6 stalwart. It's the first time that the character, who's been absent from the franchise for 10 years, has been portrayed as younger than Bond himself.

Q was made famous by Desmond Llewelyn, who played the character for 36 years. Llewelyn portrayed the scientist as a sage auhoritarian, delivering a stern warning with each gadget he doled out to 007. John Cleese, who played Q's assistant, R, in 1999's The World is Not Enough, graduated to the role after Llewelyn's death and went on to play a kookier version of the character in 2002's Die Another Day.

Joining Whishaw in Mendes's squad are Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney. Their roles have yet to be properly defined, although Bardem is confirmed as the villain. Naomi Harris is cast as a field agent known as Eve, Judi Dench returns as M, the agency's chief spook, and Bond's main squeeze will be a character called Sabrine. French TV actor Bérénice Marlohe has been recruited for that role.